BC-AP Sports Preview Digest

APOct 19, 2016 at 12:01p ET

0Shares

Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Wednesday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:

- TORONTO - The Cleveland Indians try again to wrap up their first pennant since 1997 when they send Ryan Merritt to the mound in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against the Blue Jays. Down 3-1, Toronto starts Marco Estrada. Game starts 4 p.m.

- LOS ANGELES - Rookie Julio Urias takes the mound for the Dodgers against John Lackey and the offense-starved Chicago Cubs in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series. Los Angeles leads 2-1. Game starts 8 p.m.

- HOUSTON - The lobbying skills of Raiders owner Mark Davis will be on display at the NFL fall meetings as he tries to convince the other owners that Las Vegas should be in his and their future.

- EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings could not have expected a better return from the trade they made with Philadelphia for quarterback Sam Bradford, and this week Bradford and the Vikings will have the opportunity to prove as much to the Eagles.

- The SEC West race could all but sort itself out Saturday, with No. 1 Alabama hosting No. 6 Texas A&M and two other ranked matchups on tap in the division.

- Now that the Big 12 has decided to stay at 10 schools, it's time to figure out whether to split up - into football divisions. If so, how will the teams be divided? The league, which will keep its round-robin schedule, has to determine who will play in its championship game that returns next season.

- BOSTON - At Syracuse, Dino Babers is rocking the locker room speech after beating Virginia Tech and knocking the Hokies out of the Top 25. At Boston College, Steve Addazio is still trying to earn his first Atlantic Coast Conference win in more than a year. Here's a look at some of the league's new coaches are doing in their first year and how some of the holdovers are doing so that it isn't their last.

- COLUMBIA, S.C. - Top heavy and offensively challenged, aging and ripe to be passed, the Southeastern Conference looked to many as all those things this fall. Halfway through the season, though, the SEC holds a familiar position - the deepest league in college football.

- MINNEAPOLIS - A hotly contested WNBA Finals gets what it deserves - a deciding Game 5. The Minnesota Lynx are going for their fourth championship on Thursday and the Los Angeles Sparks need one more win to break up the dynasty.

- AUSTIN, Texas - With the promise of blue skies and some sizzling pop from Taylor Swift, the U.S. Grand Prix is indeed back after all those worries about its potential demise. There's even a title chase on the track at the Circuit of the Americas.

- TOKYO - IOC President Thomas Bach meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and suggests staging some events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the northeastern region of Japan hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.